The 2009 album also has some side-by-side comparisons, taken about a week out from each contest.

You can chime in with advice of course, but I pretty much know what I need to do.

1) Mass
2) Thickness
3) Learn to Pose
4) More Mass

AnglicanBeachParty

10-01-2009, 12:47 PM

I forgot to say, I had just turned 50 years old for the 2008 contest, and 51 years old for the 2009 contest.

esplendido

10-01-2009, 01:16 PM

ABP, 2 things pop out immediately to me that you can improve upon easily for your next show: Posing and conditioning. As a natty, size is something that takes a long time to develop, so I'll address that later.

Your poses are stiff and not in their best position. Posing can accentuate, or in the case of weak posing, diminish one's muscularity. The position of the hips, placement of feet, position of the arms are critical to show off your physique. Find the poses you want to use as done by professionals and mimic them. Look at their position. Observe the "attitude" the pose demonstrates. If you are hesitant or insecure in your posing....stiff and out of position, it sends a signal to the judges that your aren't ready to be on stage.

In natty shows, it's all about conditioning. If you aren't ripped to the bone, and others are, you'll never make it to the top. It seems as though, by the pictures, that you missed your conditioning by not losing the water you needed to or just needed to drop another 5 lbs. Natties need to take longer to diet than AAS users so that they do not waste muscle in the process. I'd say a minimum of 20 weeks.

Size comes with time. You need more size, even in a 50-over division. But that shouldn't stop you from competing. A natty 50 year old should be able to gain 4-5lbs of muscle a year the first few years of training. After about 4 or 5 years (really 3-4 for us oldsters), the gains come slower....about 1-3 lbs/yr. Lift heavy. Train each bodypart only once a week. Consume 1.5-2g protein/day per pound of bodyweight. The size will come!

AnglicanBeachParty

10-01-2009, 05:32 PM

THANKS for the great advice, esplendido.

It's funny, nobody before really mentioned conditioning to me as one of the main things I needed to improve on. I think that is because, vis-a-vis my Grand Masters competition, I had somewhat better conditioning (at least at the 2008 contest), while lacking mass.

But that doesn't mean I nailed the conditioning. I think you are right. In 2008, though every detail stands out in my back, you cannot really see my abs at all. So I think there was more fat to lose there. I was also carrying fat over my glutes and on my legs.

Another problem, in addition to the ones mentioned, is that the skin on my belly is all stretched out from being at a much higher weight. It didn't tighten up like I had hoped.

You're definitely right, too, that I need to lift heavier. I have already begun that project.

Thanks again!

AnglicanBeachParty

10-11-2009, 07:42 AM

Well, you definitely serve as inspiration for us older guys. :beerbang:

What's your next show? Any plans?

Thanks, Curt.

My plan was to take 2 or 3 years off to build mass, probably entering a contest in the spring of 2012.

But then esplendido had to go and post this challenge. I am talking this over with my coaches now, to assess how much it will derail my long-term plans.

Baldiewonkanobi

10-11-2009, 08:52 AM

Esp is correct in his observation. Subtract 18 years and a shit pot full of broken bones, cancer, auto immune disorder, arthritis, gout, heart problem, and asthma and you and I are in a similar boat. Natural. You see most wear it as a badge of honor and for that I say Congrats. Stick to your guns. For me Natural is a curse because I augmented for over 7 years, my brain thinks augmented, the mirror screams back....Natural, I train and eat augmented. I'm all screwed up.

OK...an important observation for you. I took off for 12 years (at the end of an 8 year Natural run). Trained 4-5 days a week. Ate 150-200 grams protein daily. Avoided adding any PBs and doing gut busting basics like heavy squats, heavy dead lifts, heavy inclines, weighted chins/dips, or heavy oly bar curls. I dropped 33 pounds this year an unveiled the same F'ing physique in July that I had 12 years before. I was treading water for 12 years. Some told me...great...that on a 70 year old will be a winner. All I saw was skinny. Some augmented geezer will blow me away.

I have upped my protein to 350-400gms, I lift for PBs every session, I take naps to recover, have 18 bottles and cans of suppliments next to me now. I must take a Motrin every other day just to cope with the DOMs. Fuck it...I will not bend. I jerk off to pictures of Deca bottles and Anavar. Good for the prostate. If its gonna work on me it should on a kid like you.

Study and copy the great posers on You Tube.

Baldie

MsGuns

10-11-2009, 12:15 PM

Whateva you do Paul, Im 100% behind ya. You are a WINNER in my book by prepping and getting on stage.

esplendido

10-11-2009, 01:57 PM

Thanks, Curt.

My plan was to take 2 or 3 years off to build mass, probably entering a contest in the spring of 2012.

But then esplendido had to go and post this challenge (http://forums.rxmuscle.com/showthread.php?t=20797). I am talking this over with my coaches now, to assess how much it will derail my long-term plans.

Get your natural ass to the Arnold and represent, motherfucker!

AnglicanBeachParty

10-11-2009, 07:15 PM

Whateva you do Paul, Im 100% behind ya. You are a WINNER in my book by prepping and getting on stage.

THANKS, Drexel!

Esp is correct in his observation. Subtract 18 years and a shit pot full of broken bones, cancer, auto immune disorder, arthritis, gout, heart problem, and asthma and you and I are in a similar boat. Natural. You see most wear it as a badge of honor and for that I say Congrats. Stick to your guns. For me Natural is a curse because I augmented for over 7 years, my brain thinks augmented, the mirror screams back....Natural, I train and eat augmented. I'm all screwed up.

OK...an important observation for you. I took off for 12 years (at the end of an 8 year Natural run). Trained 4-5 days a week. Ate 150-200 grams protein daily. Avoided adding any PBs and doing gut busting basics like heavy squats, heavy dead lifts, heavy inclines, weighted chins/dips, or heavy oly bar curls. I dropped 33 pounds this year an unveiled the same F'ing physique in July that I had 12 years before. I was treading water for 12 years. Some told me...great...that on a 70 year old will be a winner. All I saw was skinny. Some augmented geezer will blow me away.

I have upped my protein to 350-400gms, I lift for PBs every session, I take naps to recover, have 18 bottles and cans of suppliments next to me now. I must take a Motrin every other day just to cope with the DOMs. Fuck it...I will not bend. I jerk off to pictures of Deca bottles and Anavar. Good for the prostate. If its gonna work on me it should on a kid like you.

Study and copy the great posers on You Tube.

Baldie

Great advice, thanks!

Get your natural ass to the Arnold and represent, motherfucker!

Yes. I'll be there. Prob'ly be the smallest guy up there, but I bet I'll have just as much fun as the rest!

bigdaddyd

10-12-2009, 10:16 PM

Its not about size for this, it's about conditioning

HeavyDutyGuy

10-13-2009, 12:00 AM

Good luck. Natural is harder, but everything you gain will be because of hard work and diet, so in that way its better. Besides Steve Reeves, Clarence Ross, George Eiffermsn, Vince Gironda, Bob Galluci, etc etc all did pretty dam good without juicing it up.

esplendido

10-13-2009, 02:23 AM

Its not about size for this, it's about conditioning

Absolutely!

AnglicanBeachParty

10-15-2009, 10:13 AM

I am going to compete in the Rx Arnold Challenge.

It helps to have done this before. I took my 2008 contest prep body weight data from my BodySpace at bodybuilding dot com, and plotted it in Excel. Then I moved it forward in time so that I can see if I am ahead of or behind schedule. Orange is the plan; green is my actual Arnold Challenge weight data.